It it were just Evergreen College, which was always a sort of Antioch / Hampshire College nuthouse anyway, I could write it off. But this is going on at Yale and Wesleyan and Amherst and Middlebury and the Claremont colleges. The list goes on and on. Ken White, who has been on the front lines of free speech defense for years, has recently said there are many reasons to be optimistic. In particular, the Supreme Court has been virtually absolutist in its defense of free speech over the past decades. But someone said something to me that I have never forgotten -- the Supreme Court tends to reflect the values of college kids two generations earlier. Without massive new medical interventions (which are unlikely under the coming Sanders-Warren socialized medicine regime) I don't expect to be around to see it.

Too bad Dante is not around because he might have written a nice circle of hell for Evergreen President George Sumner Bridges. I can't tell if this guy is a complete idiot or if everything we hear from him is some sort of hostage video with him speaking under duress, perhaps with SJW's hiding in his office closet to enforce conformity.

20 Comments

Dan Wendlick:

How to keep your job as a college president:
1. Beer and sex for the undergrads
2. Parking and promotions for the faculty
3. A winning football team for the alumni

Basically, the careerist move is that it is better to be remembered as the president that was in charge when free speech got sold out than as the president who was in charge when the undergrads burned down the campus.

slocum:

As crazy as things are at a lot of colleges right now, they were FAR crazier during the 60s and early 70s when there were actual riots, shootings, bombings and revolutionary groups on campus. But the Supreme Court never has reflected the values of the 60s nutters.

irandom419:

sean2829:

This ought to be something that is easy to fix. Higher education is the only institution whose costs are rising faster than healthcare. Students are paying dearly for bloated administrations and being taught by part time adjunct professors. If the maximum student loan amounts were restricted by the earning potential for different degrees and majors for undergraduates and graduate students (essentially based on the ability to pay back the loans) perhaps you'd see a lot more emphasis on getting a good, marketable education rather than political indoctrination.

J K Brown:

Mike:

What a complete embarrassment to higher learning….the president more so than the students. A stable relationship between students and faculty depends on mutual respect. The fact that the president rolls over after students tell him to f—off should be a clear indicator of who holds the authority at this “college.” By appeasing the students to the nth degree, how in the world could this president ever expect to receive any respect from these animals?

BobLouGlob:

The president should do what the students want and ban free speech. First, no cursing on campus or face expulsion. Next, no racist speech, and no speech calling someone a racist. Also, enact a dress code where they are not allowed to where t-shirts with any messaging. Finally, no more protests. Show these kids what it means to ban free speech and that it isn't just a one-way street.

jdgalt:

These idiot "students" will get their comeuppance when they try to enter the job market, with resumes that every employer will laugh at and huge bankruptcy-proof student loan debts. We must make sure they are never freed of these well deserved burdens.

Then will come the hard part for the rest of us -- getting the campuses that have become jokes shut down permanently, despite their large numbers of entrenched bureaucrats who will whine that their jobs are necessary.

I only wonder how much of higher education will be left when the dust settles. Maybe only Hillsdale College.

morganovich:

better still, let's get the government completely out of the student lending business. that's 70% of what is driving the tuition bubble. they lend without regard to ability to repay, limit payments as a % of personal disposable income, and forgive all balances after 10-20 years.

it's just sub prime all over again. if loans are hard to get, prices come down, universities have to start using their massive, tax free endowments to actually educate, and those that do lend will focus on actually getting paid back.

obloodyhell:

obloodyhell:

}}} My daughter knows that there is no way in hell I will pay for her to attend college.

Perhaps, in your case, she was right. :-/

My step father had a daughter by a previous marriage. The mother was a drunk and a bitch. But he always made sure his daughter got what she needed. Not always what she WANTED, but certainly anything she needed.

rst1317:

Bistro:

If you like. I was a navy captain working at a command in San Diego with another Navy captain who owned 5 construction companies and he told all 5 that he would not pay for them to attend college starting from grade 1. He told them other people would pay for them to attend school and to excel at school and get the ROTC scholarships and the other scholarships. I met and worked with him long before I had my daughter or before I was divorced.